Loren; Sorry I missed you during race week, may be I didn't? I was the guy popping corn all week in the tent. Fun job, but I would rather be on the water.The Omen should be back in the water shortly(after 20 months on the hard it better be).I am thinking I will race my boat in Key West RW next year. Am also considering getting a MORC class start,if the process is not to diffcult. I'll keep you posted. Ed Gully

A group of S2 9.1 sailors from Lake Michigan went down to Florida to race on Tom Seghi's S2 9.1 Happy Apple for Key West Race Week. We had crew from Kahuna, Happy Apple, Paradox, Entropy, and Kato. We also had crew from Vayu (Beneteau 40.7), Celienti (a trimiran), and Thirsty Tiger( a GL70). The trip- Hauk and I left for Lauderdale from Chicago but required a stop back at La Grange because I had forgot the battens for the delivery main. We had a smooth trip south with a bit of a traffic delay in Nashville because of the Titan's playoff game. We made it to Atlanta in 12 hours and stopped for some Mexican food. On to Lauderdale by 7am on Sunday and woke up Pat in his hotel room to use it to get a little rest. We hooked up with Al Sunday afternoon and went to Miami Beach to get Happy Apple ready for the delivery race. Al, Pat, Hauk, and I spent Sunday night exploring the South Beach area and slept Sunday night on Happy Apple at Tom's dock. Monday morning we left to deliver the boat to Lauderdale and had a great 4 hour sail up to Lauderdale. We did provisioning and 'boat get ready' on Tuesday. Jason and Mark arrived Tuesday and the skipper's meeting and party were Tuesday night. The delivery race start on Wednesday was a spinnaker start in 15 knots of wind. The delivery race was 160 miles and had us doing 1 gybe(also 1 accidental gybe) with the spinnaker up for all but 2 hours(skipper fatigue not wind conditions). The wind followed us around at 25 knots and 150 degrees and we had limited waves for the whole race. We averaged 7.2 knots with a top speed of 10.8. Unfortunately we had 3 38 foot boats in our section and it was a waterline race. We finished 14 hours ahead of when I expected us to finish. By the way, we had a clear sky and a full moon. It was the dream distance race that you hope to do at least once. Key West racing did not deliver the results hoped for but the excitement, the location, and the crew were the best to be found. The 3 second PHRF decrease(8 crew) cost us about 6 points but the 10 of us were a great group and there is no one I would have wanted to not be on the crew with us. A front hit us before our finish on Thursday with 40 knot winds and on Thursday night Key West had 36 degree weather(record cold). The trip home was forecasted for 10-15 out of the NNE that sounded great- well at least okay. BUT we got 25 on the nose for 24 hours. We were motoring at 2.4 knots and decided(Dan did) to hoist sails and tack back and forth between the Hawk Channel and the Gulf Stream. Our 2.4 speed changed to a boat speed of 6 with a VMG of over 3.5. We had a tack every 30 minutes. Out to the steep waves of the stream and back to the 25 ft on the edge of the channel. I was hit by another flying fish (The other flying fish that hit me was also on a delivery from KW). We had the wind go down on Sunday am but it stayed on the nose. When we tried the engine, we had overheating problems that we did not know how to fix( the pulley for the water pump was slipping and metal filings were coming off the water pump shaft). We arrived at the Miami Sea Buoy around 1am and had Sea Tow tow us to Tom's. We cleaned off the boat and stuffed everything in the car. Dan called a cab to get him to a hotel to make his early Mon flight. Gerry and I slept several hours at Tom's and got up early for a 7am departure. Al had a more relaxing night and was able to enjoy Tom's hospitality with Tom on Monday morning. I showed Gerry some of South Beach on our drive out of town Monday morning and we were back in Chicago by 7am Tues morning.

Just a short word from south Florida. The Happy Apple, Hull#17 just completed the first half of the year racing with a commanding lead in first place in PHRF 2. With Six races in Tom has 3- 1st places, 2 seconds and a fifth(due to blown out jib halyard). Generally, we race in two or three windward\leeward races per event}. We sail in a very challenging field of boats, but unfortunatley we are the only S2 9.1. currently racing. PHRF 2 has a dozen or so boats that can give any fleet in the country a good go of it. Thought I would keep the 'brothers' informed of the downunder (read Miami area)of an S2's success.

We just finished racing in the Sorc Regatta held in the ocean off of Miami Beach. We finished 4th out of 9 boats in a very questionable PHRF division. The range in our division went from 80 to 135 with, as one could imagine, quite a variety in boat designs. The winds and waves were heavy for the most part except for one day of the 4 day (3 races per day). we were disappointed in our results, but knew going in that the playing field wasn't exactly level. Being on the water and working with a fantastic crew and boat, did I mention "Happy Apple" hull #17, was fantastic. I highly recommend it to any S2 who has ambitions to race in Key West and then Sorc to do so. Hopefully, next year they will return our PHRF class to a more manageable span and go back to racing on the bay as they have successfully in the past. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Tom Seghi

Loren and Al from Kahuna crewed on 'Eight Bells' in the 2001 Caribbean 1500 and had a fantastic time racing for 8 days. Loren helmed for 4 hours one night in the Gulf Stream and reached a top speed of almost 13 knots. We recommend it as a great way to experience a Blue Water/Atlantic sailing/racing trip. More race information is at www.carib1500.com.

Peter & Carol Willauer's toreador red J/42L 'Eight Bells' finished 1st in Class and 2nd Overall behind a 78' ketch in the 52 boat fleet which endured 94 hours of heavy air (2 reefs and 85% jib) in 25-30 knots and 12 foot seas. One boat was abandoned off Bermuda and another two dropped out for repairs.

Peter reports that the J/42 is a "remarkable" sea boat, never once putting the stemhead under when broad-reaching down the face of large seasÖand never once taking a breaking wave from aft onto the deck. The boat was fast enough to surf down the wave ahead of the crests. Even more amazing, he said, was how the boat dealt with the cross waves in the Gulf Stream. Because of the low freeboard, stability and clean decks, the crests of steep cross-waves simply washed across the hull with no tendency to roll the boatÖhardly affecting the forward motion at all. Closest boats in terms of performance under the conditions were the Swan 44 and Swan 46, which corrected out 6 and 4 hours behind the J/42L respectively.

EIGHT BELLS spent more time sailing than all but two boats in the fleet, using its engine for only 16% of the time (33 hours) over 202:10 hours elapsed time and most of that was on the last day, bee-lining to Tortola in light, moderate air since they still at 22 gallons left. A number of the boats used their engines 50-60% of the time. On the Carib 1500 the amount of engine time is added to the elapsed time for the race. Peter said some boats had their decks littered with plastic jerry jugs of fuel. The J/42 L was the smallest boat in Class 3, yet corrected out 63 hours ahead of the 2nd boat in its Class, a Baltic 43 which finished 26 hours behind the J/42, rated 6 seconds per mile faster and used the engine 67 hours.

The 30-foot S2 9.1 C-SHELL bested a fleet of 44 boats in this year's Lime Cup, a series of two point-to-point races from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale and back. The following is a report by Don Stagg of UK Miami who sailed on C-Shell.

This years Lime Cup, turned out to be very similar to years gone by. Summer in Miami seems to be getting hotter each year, and this year was no exception. Saturday's start had light, southwesterly winds. It is a simple course starting at Bug Light out to a buoy marking the north east corner of Biscayne National Park about 2.5 NM. east. Turn north, and head to the finish just South of Port Everglades / Ft. Lauderdale. The first day's course is measured at 27 NM. miles.

The start went off on time, with almost everyone approaching the line on starboard, close reaching, then setting spinnakers in almost no wind. Because of the Gulf Stream's influence, this race is a navigators/tactician's nightmare. The light air and the southwest wind direction, made the first mark, a non issue, for most boats. Make sure you leave it to port, and head for the Gulf Stream as quickly as you can. For us this meant sailing away from our target at Port Everglades.

To the casual observer it seems simple, sail to the Gulf Stream head, north and finish. Not so, the trick is, to find it, not go too far out, and know when to come back in. Parts of the Stream can run as fast as three knots, which makes a difference in your northward progress when your speed through the water is only 2.5 knots. C-SHELL was the furthest boat out from shore for a while -- at times 5 miles east of the rhumbline. We were surprised that, after hours of hard racing, we had not even passed the Port of Miami entrance buoy, a further clue as to how light the conditions were. We decided to go even further out, flirting with the problem of knowing when to pay the piper and head back in to the finish. That soon became no problem. The wind began to fill in from the SE, and was building every hour. By this time around 1 p.m., we were looking pretty good, and started our long northwest journey to the finish, only two boats stayed out longer than we did. A Hobie 33 and an Express 37 ­ both which owed us a ton of time. We were able to work inside of the Express, but the Hobie was on an angle, that would not have worked for us. The fleet on the inside appeared to be dropping back. We continued to work down, in an ever increasing breeze. Now our new .75 oz. Matrix chute was in it's element. Our Kevlar Tape-Drive main was also doing an excellent job.

The new breeze allowed us to almost sail to the finish, on that tack. Only one jibe was necessary to keep us driving hard to the finish. We were pretty sure we had a good race, because we were counting from the front, not the back of the fleet. A very well prepared Soverel 26, finished a little too close behind us, and put 2 minutes and 29 sec. on us. We finished just before three and were looking forward to lime daiquiris poolside at Pier 66 in Ft. Lauderdale.

Sunday's start was postponed for about 30 minutes until the wind decided to go SE at about 5 knots. We started five minutes behind the Hobies, which all headed for the beach. Tactics on the return trip dictate staying out of the Gulf Stream and looking for any counter current that may be in close to shore. We short tacked along the beach, going in to the areas marked off for swimming, which took us into eight feet of water. Then we went east, toward the Gulf Stream. We did not sail offshore into water deeper than 40 feet, which set up a series of long port tacks and short starboards.

Both in the light and heavy air we, seemed to have excellent boat speed and height, with our all purpose Kevlar Tape-Drive No. 1. The Soverel 26 that started ten minutes ahead of us was now in full view and a Tripp 33 with a full Banks inventory tried to go over us, but couldn't, things were going well. We felt that one of the important considerations was, how to approach the finish. It is about 1 and 1/2 miles out from the beach, and we felt probably in some Northerly current. Our plan was to try to hit the Starboard tack lay line. We didn't see anyone else do this, but it made sense to stay out of the expected current as long as possible. We almost made the line on starboard, but with only a few boat lengths left, tacked over to finish 7 min 31 seconds ahead of the Soverel on corrected time.

We felt we had sailed a good race, and hoped we had moved up in the overall standings. We knew we had saved enough time to give us overall in our division, but we weren't sure how we would finish overall in PHRF. At the awards presentation we were a little surprised to hear the Hobies had finished 1,2,3 overall. But were grateful, to get our beer mugs / silver platter for winning our division which included two other S2 9.1s. It's not over till it's over, someone once said.

On Tuesday morning I got a call from Bob Buchman the owner of LOKI saying that he was pretty sure that we had won the overall PHRF prize for the series because the race committee had gotten the Hobie 33's mixed up in the starting order somehow, on both Sat. and Sun. Of course the Owner of C-SHELL John Duncan was amazed and gratified to hear this. He promised that the crew would get together and celebrate ASAP. It is a shame that we didn't get to bask, in the Lime Cup light but that's Yacht Racing.

The Fleet started in reverse PHRF order. The start went off with everyone approaching the line on Starboard, setting spinnakers in almost no wind. Because of the Gulf Streamís influence, this race is a Tacticianís nightmare. To the casual observer it seems simple, sail to the Gulf Stream head North and finish. The trick is to not go too far out and know when to come back in. It can make as much as 3 Knots difference. When your boat speed is hovering around 2.5 Knots, this is huge.

C-SHELL an S2 9.1 owned by John Duncan of Coral Gables FL, was for a while the furthest boat out from shore, as much as 5 miles east of the rhumb line. The wind filled in from the SE, and was building. We continued to work down, in an ever increasing breeze. The new breeze allowed us to almost sail to the finish on that tack. We were pretty sure we had a good race, because we were counting from the front, not the back of the fleet. After a great dinner Saturday night, we retired knowing Sunday was going to be another scorcher.

On Sunday, we started 5 minutes behind the Hobies, and watched them head for the beach. The thought now, is to stay out of the Gulf Stream, and look for counter current that may be in close. We short tacked along the beach, going in to the areas marked off for swimming, which took us into 8 ft. of water. Then we went East, toward the Gulf Stream, mindful of the information we gathered on Friday. We discussed not going into water deeper than 40 ft., this set up a series of long Port tacks, and short Starboards. Things were going well. We felt that the important consideration was how to approach the finish. Our plan was to try to hit the Starboad tack lay line. We almost made the line on Starboard and tacked over to finish 7 min 31 ahead of a Soverel 26 on corrected. We felt we had moved up in the overall standings. We knew we had saved enough time to give us overall in our PHRF division.

At the Awards Presentation we were a little surprised to hear the Hobies had finished 1, 2, 3, overall, but were grateful to get our Beer mugs & Silver Platter.

Its not over till itís over, someone once said. On Tuesday morning we got a call from another competitor who told us he was pretty sure we had won the overall on the weekends race. The race committee had gotten the Hobie 33ís mixed up in the starting order somehow, on both Sat. and Sun. It is a shame that we didnít get to bask in the Lime Cup spot light but thatís Yacht Racing! -

Miami FL- For the 1999 SORC, John Duncan of Coral Gables FL used Class networking to assemble a crew that included John Bousfield, a regular crew from the midwest boat Spectra and Don Short, owner of the 9.1 Meter Slipstream from Buffalo NY.

Duncan's boat, C-Shell, finished third in Class followed by fellow Class member Tom Seghi who sailed his 9.1 Happy Apple.

John and Tom also tied for their 1999 local overall season with Tom winning the tie breaker.

Boca Raton FL - Mike Phelan has decided recently to move up to a Benetau 38. His 9.1 Meter Synchronicity, now for sale, is race ready for Key West where he and his crew nearly won their class in January 1999.

After tallying 3 firsts, 2 seconds, a third and a fourth, they sailed to a fourth in the last race to finish second by one point overall at the end of the week long event.

Class Vice Commodore Loren Thompson also competed at Key West 99 on a chartered J80 temporarily named Kahuna.

Synchronicity also took a class 3rd in the Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race, a race they won in 1998.